Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag didn't say much about Jadon Sancho's current plight but his thoughts on the matter are clear.
Jadon Sancho's very public disagreement with Erik ten Hag shows little sign of being resolved.
Sancho is currently exiled from the Manchester United squad with his future at the club under extreme doubt. MEN Sport understands the English winger is open to leaving the club should his exile continue.
Meanwhile, Ten Hag is refusing to be drawn on the topic of the winger's future. Before the clash with Crystal Palace on Tuesday evening, the Dutchman was asked about Sancho and his current role with the Reds.
Ten Hag refused to offer any further information. He told Sky Sports: "I don't talk about players who are not available.
"I don't know [if deleting his Instagram is a step towards building bridges], it is up to him," he added. "As I say, I don't comment on players who are not available."
While Ten Hag is in no rush to discuss Sancho's route back to the first team, he may have answered the question when asked about Dan Gore's debut. The 19-year-old came on for Sofyan Amrabat for the last half an hour after weeks of being in and around the first-team squad.
When asked why he was given his Old Trafford bow, Ten Hag made a point of talking about the standards the midfielder is showing. "I think it's a great birthday for him, but I'm not a manager - and we don't have coaches here - who give players opportunities [for nothing], they have to deserve it," he said.
"Once they deserve it, they get the chance. But then, they have to prove it and I think, the young players like Hannibal [Mejbri], [Facundo] Pellistri and [Alejandro] Garnacho, they have to do it every time and we are very critical, they deserve it every day in training.
"When the standards are too low, they will hear it and we don't play them because they have to train every day to the maximum." Despite not addressing Sancho directly, it is hard not to think these points are relevant to the Englishman.
Clearly there are issues surrounding the winger's desire in training and this has led to his exile from the squad. At the end of the day, Sancho needs to be showing the level of commitment at Carrington that players four or five years younger than him are demonstrating week in, week out.
Ten Hag appears to have set a path for Sancho to follow back to the first team but now it is a case of whether or not the winger can acknowledge this and learn from the situation. If not, his time could be up sooner rather than later.
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